The present invention relates to two-dimensional spectrometers.
Two-dimensional spectroscopy can reveal the interaction between coupled systems of atoms and/or molecules. In a 2D spectrum, electromagnetic transitions of atoms or molecules give rise to signals that, lie on the spectrum diagonal, and if there are interactions between transitions within or among molecules, then cross peaks will also appear in the spectrum. Thus, the diagonal and cross peaks can be used to deduce molecular structures or identify mixtures of compounds, etc. Multidimensional spectra of 3D or higher provide additional information.
To collect a 2D spectrum, one needs to generate multiple light pulses to interrogate the sample. Some examples for two-dimensional spectroscopy are described, for example, in US patent application 2006/0063188 filed Sep. 15, 2005 and US patent application 2009/0161092 filed Dec. 21, 2007 both hereby incorporated by reference.
Existing multidimensional spectrometers require specialized and complex optical components and are correspondingly expensive and difficult to manufacture.